Hyukjae strolled along the streets, keeping an eye open for anyone that resembled the familiar presence he’d been unable to forget for the past three days. In actuality, he was just trying to stretch his lunch-hour but he figured it wouldn’t hurt to look for a certain man too.

He stopped on front of a pet shop window display, casually looking at the cute little puppies frolicking around playfully with each other. His eyes settled on a small brown Pomeranian which only observed the other puppies rolling happily over one another with joyful barks. It was as if the Pomeranian was looking down on the other pups while it deemed itself too classy to mingle with those mere mongrels.

Hyukjae’s eyes were glued to that dog. He couldn’t help chuckling to himself when one of the little pups rolled a little too near the haughty dog for its liking and it immediately jumped up on its paws, growling at the pup. After making sure that its personal space wasn’t invaded anymore, it settled down again, laying its head on its paws and pretending to doze off, while in actual fact it was keeping an eye and an ear open just in case the pups dared to disturb it again.

The officer was intrigued by the dog’s behaviour. Although it seemed like a stuck-up brat, it had personality, and that was what struck him. He continued observing the little brown dog (which looked so much like a cute chocolate puffball) for a few minutes more, noting the little twitch in its eye whenever a puppy ambled near it.

He suddenly got this uncomfortable sensation that somebody was watching him. Not wanting to let the stalker be on guard, Hyukjae shifted his attention to the reflection in the window and tried to sense where the stalker might be. He saw a small shift in the corner of his eye and he quickly directed his eyes to it. He could just make out a black silhouette of a man standing behind a lamp post. Unfortunately, he was too far away for Hyukjae to see his face, but he could just make out the entire black outfit, the black running shoes and the black cap the stalker was wearing. The cap hid half the face and Hyukjae knew he wouldn’t be able to see the face underneath even if the person was just behind him.

Now what was a man totally clad in black doing, watching him closely like that?

On a hunch, Hyukjae continued walking down the row of shops, acting like he was admiring the things on display while keeping an eye on the reflection of the black silhouette. His suspicion was confirmed when the man immediately followed after him but kept a safe distance behind.

Hyukjae’s heartbeat accelerated. This guy was up to no good, and he prepared himself ready to attack, just in case he needed to. Stuffing his hands into his jacket pockets, he purposely turned into a darker and lonelier alley where hardly anybody passed by.

He could hear the stalker’s footsteps hasten as he made the final turning and faced a dead-end. Counting to three under his breath, Hyukjae suddenly spun around and connected with the stalker in a swift blow to the gut.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to stop the man. He delivered an uppercut to Hyukjae’s jaw, sending him staggering backwards. The officer quickly saw that the man was unarmed and his left leg shot out to kick the man right in his groin. The stalker let out an agonized yell and fell to the ground, allowing Hyukjae to land a blow on his shoulders. However the man was quick on his feet and immediately rolled over. Hyukjae cursed as his elbow crunched against the ground. He was paralyzed in pain for a while and that gave the stalker the opportunity to flee the scene. Seeing the stalker get off scot-free while he was immobilised himself, the frustrated officer furiously punched the brick wall in front of him.

“Craaaack!!”

* * *

“OWW!! THAT HURTS, YOU IDIOT!!!”

Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Sungmin ignored Hyukjae’s protests and proceeded to dress the lat